


Samsara

by firefly124



Category: Firefly, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-31
Updated: 2011-05-31
Packaged: 2017-10-19 23:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/206278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefly124/pseuds/firefly124
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just like the moon, life has its cycles. Sometimes those cycles intersect more than once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Samsara

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [SevvyLu](http://severelylupine.livejournal.com), who requested Remus Lupin and River Tam. I'd warn for cryptic weirdness, but ... it's River, so that's a given. Huge thanks to [ubiquirk](http://ubiquirk.livejournal.com) for the beta.

Theo'd had more'n his share of weird customers over the years. Course, that was just as well. Kept 'em from noticing his own weirdness. Might not be any Ministry for Magic since Earth-that-was, but that just made secrecy more important than it ever had been.

Still, no amount of years tending bar prepared him for this one girl. Her clothes were shabby, but she carried herself with the grace of a cat, and her eyes were just a bit too wide.

"You old enough to be here?"

"Not here for liquor. Poison, anyway. Though certain poisons in small doses can be medicinal."

"Ri-ight. So water then?"

"Yes, please."

He grabbed a glass.

"Like aconite. Monkshood. Wolfsbane."

Theo tried not to react as he poured her water and set it down.

"Not much need for it, though, since Earth-that-was." She tilted her head. "Safe from Luna, no more curse. The professor's great-great-grandchildren change only when they want to, thanks to _nai-nai bi-zu_."

A few years ago, he'd never have been able to stop his hair going yellow with shock. Theo didn't rightly know what to say. Girl didn't seem like a witch, didn't feel like one, but she was picking stuff out of his brain like pebbles off the ground.

"There you are, _mei-mei_. Ready to go?"

The strange girl picked up her glass and gulped her water, slapping her money onto the bar like any of the grizzled regulars. "Am now."

It was a good hour after they'd gone 'fore Theo could relax.

 _Nobody'd believe her anyway. Offworlder and crazy._

Still, he thought he'd best tell _a-yi_ Dora when he got home. Couldn't be none too careful these days.

~0~

Remus Lupin ducked down an alley, hoping the Ministry puppet hadn't spotted him. After several long minutes spent crouched behind a bin, he finally let himself breathe and straighten.

The first thing that had gone through his head when he'd spotted the Death Eater was that he wouldn't even have a chance to take Harry's advice and reconcile with Dora. That he might never see their child. Thus reassured that he was doing the right thing, he squared his shoulders and prepared to Apparate home.

"The cycle repeats," said a young woman who materialized somehow at the entrance to the alley. "Some lessons learned, others not so much."

Remus stared at her. He was somehow certain she wasn't a witch, yet she spoke like a seer. "Who are you?"

"Not all cycles come with curses," she replied. With a shrug, she added, "Some even break them."

As she turned and walked away, he stared at the place she'd stood, wondering what she meant.

 _It doesn't matter. A cycle that breaks a curse sounds dead useful, but it's no help if I don't know what it means._

Shaking his head, he focused on home and Apparated.

**Author's Note:**

>  _a-yi_ : auntie  
>  _nai-nai_ : grandmother  
>  _bi-zu_ : earliest ancestor  
> Found [here](http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/Lindict/), but please don't blame them for the way I cobbled those last two together.  
>  _mei-mei_ : little sister (that one's canon, didn't look it up)  
>  _samsara_ : A Buddhist term, Sanskrit, I believe, that refers to the cycle of death and rebirth.


End file.
